Gen. Patton leads the charge for military vets

George S. Patton Jr.’s ghost has set up headquarters in San Diego where the general’s pinstriped army aspires to inject military-grade steel into the American economy.

The Patton Foundation, a nonprofit inspired by the mythic memory of Old Blood and Guts himself, is a hopeful work in progress.

Helen Patton, the late general’s granddaughter, is the driving force behind the 3-year-old foundation as well as other Patton-related projects in Europe and the U.S.; Douglas Gordon, a San Diego attorney, is the foundation’s volunteer CEO and ardent apostle.

“George Washington freed the colonies,” Gordon wrote recently. “Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, and George Patton freed most of Europe. When I speak with Helen Patton, it’s the same as speaking with George Washington’s granddaughter.”

Last week, 50 business leaders — including former Burger King CEO Jeff Campbell, Escondido developer Jack Raymond, and former Del Mar mayor and businessman Richard Earnest — mustered at the University Club to remember Patton (his war exploits, his childhood in Los Angeles) and discuss the foundation’s partnership with the University of San Diego’s School of Leadership and Education Sciences, a union that this summer will give birth to a daylong conference.

One major objective of the Patton Foundation is to persuade American companies that warriors in the Patton mold are uniquely qualified to lead in the marketplace.

At first blush, the Patton brand might trigger blushing, if not blanching, in the boardroom.

For example, Patton’s oft-quoted off-color speech to the Third Army (cleaned up for the 1970 movie “Patton” starring George C. Scott) would go against corporate grains.

Here’s a (printable) excerpt from the speech that, to my ear, Mark Twain could have written:

“Americans love to fight, traditionally. All real Americans love the sting and clash of battle. You are here today for three reasons. First, because you are here to defend your homes and your loved ones. Second, you are here for your own self-respect, because you would not want to be anywhere else. Third, you are here because you are real men and all real men like to fight. ... Americans despise cowards. Americans play to win all of the time. I wouldn’t give a hoot in hell for a man who lost and laughed. That’s why Americans have never lost nor will ever lose a war; for the very idea of losing is hateful to an American.”

The other day, I rented “Patton,” written by young Francis Ford Coppola.

It’s striking how truly great movies, even when re-creating history, reflect the anxieties of the time in which they’re produced.

In 1970, the United States was vainly yearning for an honorable end to the Vietnam War. “Patton” cut like a saber through the ambiguous fog of war, reminding us of a time when there was no debate about the rightness of the fight to the death.

Though his bravery and tactical brilliance were legendary, Patton was often mocked for his sartorial fastidiousness. The gleaming boots, the riding crop, the ivory-handled pistols — they made him a target for German snipers as well as American satirists.